


Before the Full Moon

by BadAtLife



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Gen, I did so much moon study for this stuff and I think I still miss timed moon phases, If Akiteru thought Kei was hard to deal with before, It can be Tsukkiyama if you want or theyre just friends, Kei's a little shit but when isnt he, Ouch, Plot device OC but not overly important?? maybe, Tadashi is trying, Werewolf AU, either works but ship is not focus of story, how the hell do these tags work, somebody gets bit, supernatural beasties, whatever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25894459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadAtLife/pseuds/BadAtLife
Summary: His glasses were on the nightstand to his right; he'd put them there as he always did before bed. It was certain he wasnt wearing them because he was staring right at them. Blinking Kei stared blankly at the black frames about an arm’s length away from him; staredclearly. Every detail of the glass was as clear as if he was wearing those stupid things, and yet there they were. He reached for them slowly when he heard something somewhere in the house. Perhaps Akiteru was moving around upstairs... no... that wasnt upstairs. He could hear the noises downstairs as if they were right outside his door...Kei felt something coiling up inside his chest.This... this wasnt right...
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi, tsukkiyama
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [BLOOD MOON](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25498501) by [moonlumie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlumie/pseuds/moonlumie). 



> Heya! This is my first Hiakyuu fanfic that Im actually going to post, so bear with me here!  
> Also this was super inspired by moonlumine's vampire-AU story which you should totally go  
> check out!! It's so, so good!!
> 
> I hope yall enjoy it!  
> 

Practice had been rather grueling that day. They were all trying to think up new plays that utilized the whole team, but easier said than done. By the end of it Kageyama was thoroughly annoyed, Hinata ended up taking three volleyballs to the face, Daichi looked like he was going to kill Tanaka and Nishinoya, and Tsukishima looked about ready to kill anybody who even so much as got near him. The team split off for home in their usual ways, and like always Yamaguchi followed Tsukishima. He could feel the irritation rolling off Kei as they walked, but Tadashi was used to his friend’s irritable personality. It was funny to him though, that Kei was so bothered today that he didn’t even get around to putting his headphones on. 

“Tsukki!” Tadashi said as he came up next to the taller boy, “Do you want to head to my house and study for our math quiz tomorrow?” 

Golden eyes slid to him from the corner of his glasses. There was a cold calculation behind them, as there usually was, but it faded out soon enough as Kei sighed. The blonde’s eyes slid forward again, “Sure.”

Tadashi beamed as he fell into step with the taller. He rather enjoyed the fact that Tsukki was so cold to everybody else, comments and jabs and insults, but was at ease when it was just them. At least, he hoped Tsukki was at ease. It was always hard to tell with the way Tsukki kept his emotions under heavy lock and key. The two were passing a park when Tadashi caught glimpse of a hunched figure trotting through on all fours. It was a rather big looking dog he assumed; the way it walked. They were on the other side of the street though, so details were questionable. Still Tadashi couldn’t say he ever saw a dog that big; even from this far away it was _big_. 

“Tsukki do you see that dog?” Tadashi asked.

The taller turned to look into the park, but whatever had caught Tadashi’s attention was gone, “No. I don’t see anything. Don’t start jumping at shadows now, Yamaguchi.”

Tadashi hummed as he stared off at the park for a moment longer before looking away. Tsukki was probably right; it was late and he was tired. 

“So do you want to stay the whole night or just for study?” Tadashi started again as he folded his hands behind his head.

Kei was quiet for a few moments, “I’ll stay.” He answered flatly.

Smiling, Tadashi started talking again about what they would probably have to go over, but Kei tuned him out when he heard something else. It was a distant, continuous, rapid tapping that was echoing down the street. It was gaining speed and coming up behind them Kei realized. He looked back over his shoulder and Kei’s eyes widen when he saw the huge, dog?!, running toward them. There’s a clear snarl on its face, feral and crazed, and Kei is pretty fucking sure it’s eyes are _glowing._

The dog is suddenly only a few feet away and Kei can see teeth and fangs and can feel the violence rolling off the animal. It jumps; lunging forward with such speed Kei is remind of Hinata’s monster quick for some reason. The teeth are aimed at Tadashi’s back, his neck, and Kei feels a panic explode in his chest as he grabs his best friend’s arm. 

A savage push suddenly sends Tadashi crashing sideways into the grass. Brown eyes turn up in confused question, but go wide as he watches something huge and terrible catch Kei’s arm in its jaws. The momentum sent the dog forward and with jaws clamped down hard on Kei’s limb the blonde goes with it. Kei is brought down with sickening force as he feels teeth tearing into his muscle and suddenly he’s on the ground. He’s pretty sure he should be screaming, maybe he is, but all he hears is blood rushing through his ears as he’s yanked sideways all of the sudden. There’s a feral growling coming out from its muzzle around the part of Kei’s arm it was trying to snap off, and he sees a glowing green eye staring down at him with a feral hunger. It’s so big, and so crazed, he can see himself staring back at him in its pupil. He’s suddenly feeling terrified and knows he should do something, but he cant get any part of him to cooperate. Something comes flying over his head suddenly and it nails the monstrous dog in the face. 

Kei recognizes it as Tadashi’s bag; if all those dumb keychains were anything to go by. The corner of the bag slams heavily into the dog’s muzzle, but the keychains swing around towards its eye. One of them, a rather intricate one made of solid metal, slams full force into the dog’s eye. There a gross hissing sound for a few moments before the dog’s eye starts smoking and it cries out in pain.  
Kei’s arm is released with a yank of teeth that sends renewed pain shooting through his body. The dog howls in pain as its eye smokes and it backs away. Tadashi is suddenly standing between Kei and the dog, and even though he can feel his legs shaking beneath him there’s no way he’s letting this dog get Kei again. The dog is bigger, Tadashi realizes, than he’s ever seen before. Its got longer limbs and it’s oddly hunched over; like it’s not meant to be just on all fours. The fur is matted and gross, dirty and tangled, and its eye is now leaking something dark. It turns to the boys with a low, ominous growling as it snarls at them. Huge teeth gleam in the street lights and Tadashi feels sick when he catches glimpses of the blood on them. 

He has absolutely no idea what else he can do to ward the dog off, but Kei only just got to his knees and he’s shaking. There’s blood dripping off his fingers, soaking his sleeve, and Tadashi thinks he might be a little sick when he catches a glimpse of his friend’s arm underneath the fabric. His bag is a few feet away, so all he’s got is his phone. He really doubts that is going to do anything if the dog attacks them again…

It turns towards them slowly; shoulders hunching as it stared down Tadashi. The growling grew more furious as its claws curled slightly and scratched across the pavement. There wasn’t a doubt in either boys’ mind that it was about to lunge them again, and its muscles tensed as if to drive their thought home.

Then, out of the stretching silence of the night, a chorus of howling erupted from the darkness. It traveled down the street from somewhere far behind them, but it didn’t seem to diminish the haunting sound. There was one, then two, then a steady increase of separate howls joining the sound. The dog in front of them suddenly seemed fearful as the howling reached their location. Its ears pinned back as it lowed itself closer to the ground with a whining snarl. Without so much as a second glance at the boys it had terrorized the dog turned and ran.

Tadashi watched it with wide, uncertain eyes until it faded into shadows. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, and his legs felt like they were going to give out underneath him. A sharp hiss of pain behind him though snapped the boy back to reality of what had happened and he spun around instantly. He dropped to his knees next to Kei and looked shakily at his friend’s arm. Kei held his arm awkwardly with his other as he bit hard into his lip. He winced every time his fingers twitched and looked way too pale, but as far as Tadashi knew he figured Kei was taking it pretty damn well. Panic was starting to root into Tadashi’s chest though as he watched the blood drip of Kei’s fingers while he awkwardly waved his arms around Kei’s shoulders for a second as he tried to think of what to do, and remember to breathe, at the same time. 

“A-…Akiteru…” Kei somehow managed to grind the name out through his clenched teeth, “Call Akiteru…”

Tadashi stopped freaking out and blinked at Kei for a moment before nodding quickly and pulling his phone out, “O-Okay Tsukki… Y-Youre taking this kinda… well…”

Kei gasped out a laugh? Maybe a sarcastic huff? Neither one could tell what it had really been, but the blonde shook his head slowly as he stared at the grotesque injuries on his arm, “Shock… hasn’t worn off… yet…”

The other was nodding, but Kei was pretty sure Tadashi hadnt heard a word of what he said because he was staring so hard at Kei’s arm. The minute Akiteru must have answered the phone Tadashi started yammering into it and practically screaming; no doubt giving his brother a heart attack. Kei needed to focus on something else, anything else, other than the gory state his arm was in if he was going to stave off the mental panic that was trying to seep into his brain. His eyes zeroed in on Tadashi and he watched; everything. The guy was freaking out enough for the both of them, but Akiteru must have said something because Tadashi stopped spouting panic and was nodding quickly behind the phone. He suddenly gave Akiteru their location; no doubt so his brother could come drive him to the hospital. Tadashi’s lip quivered a little, Kei noticed, as he stopped talking and listened to whatever his brother was saying. Kei sighed in his mind; he was still kind of a cry-baby even after they got into high school. 

Tadashi closed his phone and brown eyes slid up to golden with a glassy look in them, “Your brother’s on the way! He said he knows exactly where we are and he’ll be here fast and he’ll take you to the hospital!” 

The shock must have been wearing off because all of the sudden his arm was pulsing in agony and it was taking all of Kei’s willpower not to lose his composure. Distraction; he needed a distraction. Kei looks from Tadashi to the sky and tries his damnedest to map out all the stars he can see. It’s not a lot because of the light pollution, but he can see the North Star, and some of the constellations. He traces them with his eyes, and names them, and follows their winding patterns all over the sky until he stops on the moon. It’s big, and bright, and full and Kei thinks that it’s really lovely all of the sudden. 

“Tsukki!!” Tadashi suddenly, nearly, shrieks at him and he snaps his head down afraid the dog was coming back.

Instead he finds Tadashi staring at him with big, wet tears rolling down his face as he bites his lip and tries not to actually cry even though he’s already doing it. Kei’s shaking as the pain radiates through his body, and blood soaks into his clothes, and he can smell the metallic stench of it. It makes him sick for a moment, and he’s feeling dizzy all of the sudden. Despite it all though he stares at Tadashi’s worried face, and those big fat tears rolling down his cheeks and he cant help but drop his head and chuckle. He decided to chalk it up to the blood loss; why else would he laugh at such a dramatic moment? 

Akiteru shows up pretty damn fast and both boys are sure he didn’t once stop to consider speed limits, and Kei sees him jump out of the car pretty sure it was still moving. The injury and the blood loss are catching up to him and his head is spinning, but he almost laughs at the fact that Akiteru looks as panicked as Tadashi and they both start trying to talk and get Kei’s attention. They’d tell him later that his eyes started rolling to the back of his head just as his brother got there and it had freaked them both out. 

All Kei would remember later was the sky sliding into view and the moon suddenly taking up all his vision, and how he didnt recall it being quite so, _alluring._

…


	2. Chapter 2

Bright lights flared in his vision for a second and it made him wince. His head was killing him. Squinting, Kei tried again and this time managed to slowly let the blurry world back into his vision without light stabbing him in the eyes. From what he could make out the room was white, and it smelled like disinfectant. Kei guessed hospital room. He blinks a bit and looks down at his arm; there’s white bandages wrapped securely around it and they stretch over almost three quarters of his arm. He didn’t realize it had got that wide of a radius. 

Kei blinked when someone was suddenly in his path of vision, and he squints trying to clear out details. They were reaching something out to him, no doubt his glasses, but those little strips of hair sticking up off the top of their head was a dead giveaway.

“Yamaguchi.” Kei said slowly as he took his glasses and put then on his face. 

The world cleared into solidity finally and he was pretty sure he already felt slight relief to his headache. He looked at the other boy though, and raised an eyebrow. Tadashi’s eyes were red and he was staring at Kei pretty damn hard. 

“You didn’t cry the whole time did you?” Kei asked staring blankly at him.

Tadashi jolted a bit, but smiled sheepishly at him. He rubbed the back of his head and shrugged which earned him a sigh, but Tadashi knew there wasn’t any irritation in it. Truthfully he’d been in fits the whole time Akiteru drove to the hospital and even when they were giving Kei over to the doctors. In his defense Akiteru hadnt been much better either. He couldn’t help it though! How could he when Tsukki just suddenly drops limp on them after Akiteru showed up? Alright so maybe he got a bit too hysterical for a dog bite on the arm, and it wasn’t like Tsukki had _lost_ his arm. Still though! That dog had been _huge_ , and the injury had been huge, and there’d been so much blood on Tsukki, and Tadashi had been so scared the whole time, and then Tsukki passed out…   
He shook his head; he was getting dizzy thinking about it all again. Tsukki was gonna be fine, his arm was going to be fine, so Tadashi had no reason to freak out about it all now. Sure he wouldn’t really get to play any volleyball for a while until his wound was healed, but he was pretty sure that wouldn’t stop Tsukki. He’d have to make sure the guy didn’t ignore the doctors and try to play and tear all his stiches open again. 

“Where’s Akiteru?” 

Tadashi blinked back out of his thoughts and found golden eyes looking at him with that plain, uninterested look they always carried; god it was great to see that grouchy look right now.   
“He’s talking to your doctor, and I think he said something about your mom.” 

Kei sighed again and figured it was going to be one hell of an entrance getting home. Which right now was all he wanted to do. He wanted to go home, do his homework, and sleep maybe all the way until after school practice. 

“Well I want to go home.” Kei said as he sat up, but he winced a little as his arm pulled. 

Tadashi twitched towards him a bit, but stopped when Kei shot him a “don’t you dare” look from behind his glasses. His arm was pulsing rather angrily and Kei wondered how long the dumb limb would be out of commission. Good thing it had been his left arm and not his right or things would be extremely difficult for a while. 

“I don’t know if you can leave yet though?” Tadashi said quickly as he came around and hovered next to Kei as he swung his legs onto the floor. 

“I’m not dying; I’m not sick.” Kei said flatly, “I had an injury, they stitched it up. I’m going home.” 

“Tsukki!” Tadashi obviously wanted to protest, Kei could see it on his face and the way his eyebrows scrunched together. 

“What time is it anyway?”

This time Tadashi leaned back a bit and Kei raised a questioning eyebrow at him as he squinted at the other boy.

“It’s already a few hours after school.” Tadashi responded quietly, “Akiteru called the school and told them what happened, so everybody already knew you weren’t going to come today. I told the team after school and then came here. Oh but I got our homework and notes from class that you missed today!” 

“Wait it’s already after school?” Kei’s eyebrows scrunched together after Tadashi’s slow nod.

“The doctor said you’d lost a decent amount of blood, but it wasn’t overly serious. They gave you really heavy pain killers so you’d get some rest.” Tadashi said slowly as if he was worried Kei might get angry at _him_ like he’d been the one to knock Kei out for a whole day. 

Kei didn’t say anything for a while. He’d missed both school and practice; that was annoying. Finally the blonde sighed, but still didn’t resign himself to getting back into bed. Tadashi’s lips parted to say something, but the two looked toward the doorway instead when Akiteru walked in. The older Tsukishima blinked a bit at his younger brother before walking over quickly.

“Kei!” He said as his eyes moved from the younger’s eyes to his bandaged arm, “Are you alright? How’s your arm feel? You shouldn’t be up so fast you know.”

Tadashi watched Kei’s eyebrow twitch a bit as he stared at his brother, but relaxed a little when Kei sighed. He was doing a lot of that right now.   
“I’m fine.” Kei said flatly, “I just want to go home.”

“You really should at least stay a little longer. They said you lost a pretty good bit of blood you know. I don’t want you getting light headed or something trying to walk your stubborn self out of here.” Akiteru huffed as he watched Kei closely; probably looking for a sign of his brother trying to fake off pain. 

“I feel fine.” The younger repeated looking away from the other two and walking toward the door, “If I’m not required to be chained in here then I’m going home.”

The two watched him leave before Tadashi trotted after him. Akiteru huffed before shaking his head and following; Kei was so stubborn sometimes it worried him.

The nurses were hesitant to let Kei out so soon, but Akiteru knew there wasn’t any stopping him. He told them he’d be watching his brother like a hawk and if anything changed even a little he’d bring him back. Still unsure about it they handed over Kei’s prescription for the antibiotics and painkillers and let him discharge. Tadashi walked abnormally close to Kei as they exited the hospital and the blonde glanced at him with a slight glare. 

“What, Yamaguchi?” 

Jumping a little Tadashi shook his head, “Nothing Tsukki… I just think you should have at least stayed a little long…”

“I told you both Im fine. If I’m going to sleep any more of this day away it’s going to be in my own room.” Kei retorted. 

They made it to Akiteru’s car and waited for the older Tsukishima who’d been getting the prescriptions. Tadashi stared at Kei before the taller sighed, again, but there was clear annoyance in this one.   
Golden eyes slid down to brown and glared causing Tadashi to look away. 

“Now what?” Kei almost spit out; he was getting really tired of this worry everyone kept staring at him with. 

“I…” Tadashi rocked on his feet for a second, “Do you mind if I at least stay over tonight? I could give you all the school work and notes, and we could do the homework if you want to.” 

There was a long pause and Tadashi thought for a second he’d annoyed Kei into silence, but he perked up some when there was a huff next to him. 

“Fine. But if you ask me if I’m okay again I’m going to kick you downstairs.” 

“I wont!” 

…

Tadashi had long since told his own parents what had happened, so they weren’t surprised at all when he’d called again to tell them he was going to stay at the Tsukishima’s place. Akiteru dropped him off at his house so he could get things for the night before the brothers returned home.

As Kei had guessed his mother had been in a near tearful frenzy when he’d walked through the door, and he was nearly suffocated. Kei was glad when he managed to slip away finally and disappear upstairs. He left his family members to no doubt talk about the events as he shut himself in his room. Sitting down on the bed Kei glared darkly at his arm as if it would stop hurting under his gaze. The pain was pulsing slightly with his heartbeat and it was irritating him. Stupid monster dog; he’d be out of practices for weeks. If not a month. Kei’s jaw clenched before he forced himself to calm down. It was no big deal. He sighed slowly through his nose; it was just a club.

The doorbell rang and Kei stood, slowly, before heading downstairs to get Tadashi and some of the pain medication.

Managing to avoid his mother again, and ignoring Akiteru’s worried face, Kei rounded up Tadashi and the medication before herding his friend into his room. He didn’t miss the way those stupidly big, brown eyes flicked back and forth from his arm to whatever else. 

“I’m going to take this pain medication, and I want you to stop staring at my arm like it’s going to burst into flames.” Kei said as he stared flatly at Tadashi, “Unless you want to sleep downstairs.”

The smaller shook his head quickly before setting the school work out on Kei’s desk. Despite Tadashi asking four times if he wanted to just go to sleep for the rest of the night the two of them sat at Kei’s desk working diligently despite it all. Having missed the actual lesion Kei was determined to get the material down before even thinking of sleeping, but even with the pain killers being non-drowsy his body started fighting against him. He had been leaning forward slightly reading though some of Tadashi’s notes when the other noticed his head lolling forward a bit before he startled somewhat back to alertness. It wasn’t often Kei was so obviously tired like this, so Tadashi watched with slight amusement for a few extra seconds before finally grabbing his notes back. 

Much to Kei’s protest. 

Eventually he coerced the dozing Kei into settling in for the night, and soon enough both boys were out cold. A few hours into the night, however; Kei started to dream. He’d later wonder why considering as far as he knew he never dreamed, or at least he couldn’t ever remember dreaming. Yet this one would stick in his head for days to come. His eyebrows were drawn together as his fingers curled harshly into the sheets beneath him. His eyes darted back and forth beneath his eyelids as he silently tried to gasp air into his lungs… 

_He could see Tadashi; they were together like always. It was dark around them no matter where he looked, but even so they walked onward into nothingness. Tadashi’s lips were moving when he looked back at Kei, but he couldn’t hear any words. Something suddenly began to break the darkness around them, and slowly, pale light leaked into the inky blackness. Everything turned grey and colorless as Kei watched the moon fade into the darkness above them; full, bright, and **calling**. Kei felt like it was boring into his eyes; underneath his skin; through his veins. Tadashi had stopped now standing right beneath the moon. His back was towards Kei; unaware. Something in him sent a wave through his body and Kei felt breathless. He couldn’t breathe. Grey moonlight spilled across the darkness below them and suddenly he was sinking into it. He couldn’t get out of it, and he couldn’t bring himself to make a sound. He reached out for Tadashi, but froze when he saw his hand before him. Fingers didn’t reach out for his best friend instead it was claws, black and shining in the light and suddenly he was free. He was free and moving, and he could feel a wild thrill take over his senses. The moon turned brighter; larger; as if it was getting closer. Kei was running toward Tadashi, but something felt wrong. He could feel something else surging through his veins and screaming into his instincts. He tried to call out again but still no sound came; empty silence was all that existed around them. He felt his body lurch forward as if against his will as he slammed into Tadashi. The grey light exploded into a haunting crimson and Kei could feel it on his hands. He could smell it in the air. His eyes shot up towards the moon, but something terrible stared back at him from darkness instead. Eyes so bright and golden they glowed like stars. Wide and terrifying he could see himself in their reflection…_

Kei thrashed awake so fast he nearly threw himself off the bed. He was sweating and breathing harshly as he stared into the blurry darkness of his bedroom. His eyes darted around at the dark ceiling above him before he squinted down at his hands and touched them together; no eyes, and no claws. He looked down at Tadashi who was asleep on the futon he pretty much owned since they were kids. He was a blurry mess in the darkness, but Kei swallowed and forced his own breathing to calm enough before he heard Tadashi’s even breaths. A shaky breath escaped him as he straightened back into his own bed. Laying back down Kei stared at the ceiling when the dull aching of his arm finally came into his senses. It pulsed angrily for a moment causing him to wince, but Kei turned on his side and chose to ignore it.

As he forced himself to calm down and go back to sleep he bitterly thought he’d prefer to never dream again. 

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! I hope youre enjoying so far!   
> I used a part of the dream to experiment art wise, so if you'd like to see   
> a chunk of it drawn out! :D   
> [Here (:](https://twitter.com/gypsypendragon/status/1297402437217554432)
> 
> Anyway thank you for reading this far!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have about 7 chapters written out for this already, and Im trying _really_ hard not to post them all too quickly. haaaa

The doctors had said it would take a decent amount of time to heal, but everyone was rather surprised at how rapidly the wound was really healing. Already Kei had been able to go back to get the stiches removed which had baffled the doctors for a moment. It had only been about two weeks. Despite the oddly rapid healing of his injury though, there’d been a shift in Kei that others had started to notice. Dark circles had appeared under his eyes about a week ago despite him claiming he was sleeping fine. He’d gotten snappier than usual and his normally sarcastic jabs had taken on intentionally insulting tones. Tadashi had recently become the only one brave enough to stand anywhere near Kei during school hours, and even then sometimes he felt a bit uneasy around the taller boy. He wasn’t being out right aggressive, but there was this strange atmosphere following him around that made everyone want to run for it. 

Calling practices tense would have been an understatement. In the beginning when he was finally able to at least do basic and easy warm ups everything was alright. He couldn’t join any three-on-three or two-on-two games since the ball would have probably aggravated his arm too much, but he was content with just practicing by himself. As the week went on, however; Kei all but muscled his way onto the court again and participated despite everyone’s concern for his arm. While he was in games though everybody could feel a serious shift in atmosphere. No matter who his teammates were Kei’s intensity produced almost feral energy. By the second week of being included in more intense practice Kei was almost a different person. His usual disinterest in the game was all but gone, and anyone on the opposite team was suddenly fighting off monster spikes and aggressive blocks that would send the ball back with so much force one of them knocked Nishinoya completely off his feet. 

As much as everyone was elated with Kei’s, mysterious, newfound interest in the game the atmosphere on the court was… dangerous. 

Kei on the other hand had no idea _why_ every part of his being wanted to return the ball so hard it might tear someone’s arm off, but he wanted to none the less. As much as he tried to reel himself in again and be as half-hearted as possible all that thinking went out the door the minute the speed of the game picked up. The thing that really wanst helping, however; was his injury. The impact of the ball was doing little to nothing to it he’d realized a few days ago. None the less the wound would occasionally pulse out of nowhere and send a flaring rage through him. He’d thought it should be getting more lax as the wound healed, but it was only getting more intense. 

He was startled to realize he occasionally found himself literally wondering if tearing his arm off would be a better option. Even more surprising was he didn’t find that option as wild, or insane as he should have.

There was also a strange shift he’d come to notice about a week and a half into practices. He was so acutely aware of every movement anyone on the opposite team made. It was like he was reacting to slow motion video instead of people. It was starting to freak him out. 

They were in the middle of a three-on-three match, which Kei’s side had been dominating in, when Hinata and Kageyama chose that moment to use one of their freakish quicks. A movement from Nishinoya drew Kei’s eyes for only a split second which would turn practice on its side. 

Hinata jumped, and the spike connected just as Kei’s eyes slid away. The room watched as the ball rocketed forward, but the outcome was too late to stop. Kei’s eyes slid back forward just as the ball slammed full force into the side of his face. The sound of the impact silenced the whole gym as everyone, including the freak duo, stared with slight wide-eyed terror. The ball ironically bounced back over the net, but there was no effort to receive it. The whole gym froze as if time stopped for a moment. Kei’s body was stock still, his glasses having fallen to the floor a good few feet from him, but Hinata jolted suddenly catching everyone’s attention. Golden eyes slid slowly to the corner and stared wide and rage-filled at the littlest crow on the court. 

There was a look in them that neither Hinata nor Kageyama would be able to describe, but it sent Hinata reeling back away from the net as if he was about to get eaten alive. In fact he went all they back to the raised stage at the back of the gym. Kei shifted slowly, his body straightening out stiffly, but instead of going for his glasses the team jumped a bit as he suddenly started stalking toward the net. Tadashi felt something creep up his spine all of the sudden that made his hair stand on end that ultimately made him the first to react. He trotted quickly across the court to Kei who hadnt stopped staring at their shortest team member, even to blink, and placed himself in his path. 

“T-Tsukki, it was an accident.” Tadashi said quickly as his hands hovered close to Kei’s arms as if to hold him in place, but hadnt quite touched him yet, “Dont be too angry… please…”

Kei stopped walking and looked down at Tadashi, and the smaller boy blinked in slight confusion. The look in Kei’s eyes reminded him more of a wild animal than an angry high school student. The tension in the gym was suffocating, but as soon as Kei’s stance seemed to ease off of whatever murderous intent he had been carrying it started to move again. The third years silently agreed it would probably be best for everyone to head home, and the strange lingering atmosphere around Kei just drove the choice home.

As everyone cleaned and changed Sugawara and Daichi approached Tadashi just as he retrieved his thing. 

“Yamaguchi…” Sugawara said slowly, there was clear and obvious concern in the way his eyebrows were turned upward, “Is everything going alright with Tsukishima?”

“I was pretty sure we were going to witness murder.” Daichi muttered from behind Sugawara. 

Tadashi sighed as he glanced over to Kei who was now gathering his own things, “I don’t… I don’t know.” He’d been thinking it since Kei started acting odd, but saying it out loud kind of hurt, “Ever since the dog attack Tsukki’s been so different… He’s, scary, almost.”

 _‘Almost!?’_ Sugawara’s eyebrow twitched, “Have you talked about it with him since then? Maybe he’s still trying to deal with it?”

Brown eyes slid off his seniors towards his best friend who, despite everything, was still waiting outside the doors no doubt for him. 

“Just, try to talk to him?” Sugawara sighed as he patted Tadashi’s shoulder gently, “As much as we are glad to see Tsukishima being more, invested, in the game we cant have this tension all the time. If something is bothering him still anyway I think it would be better to try and help him than stand around and just deal with his odd change…”

Sugawara smiled, and whatever weird mother energy he always produced seeped into Tadashi a little. The younger nodded quickly, a little bit of drive warming his veins now, before he left to walk with Kei. Sugawara was right and Tadashi wasn’t going to wait until he was actually afraid of his best friend.

At least, that what he’d been thinking.

Sighing Tadashi looked up at the blonde walking a decent distance ahead of him. Kei had been in such an odd mood all day and then the court incident; Tadashi caught one glimpse of his face and Sugawara’s words left his head. He couldn’t even begin to think of what he’d ask let alone approach Kei right now. Tadashi couldn’t even remember a time when his best friend had been so, off… even when they found out his brother had lied to him he hadnt gotten angry like this. 

Coming out of his thoughts Tadashi was surprised to see someone approaching Kei. His eyebrows went up when the stranger didn’t stop until they were practically standing on top of Kei and he could see their mouth moving. Kei’s face changed suddenly and he took a step back, but as soon as the stranger grabbed Kei’s arm Tadashi picked up speed. 

Kei on the other hand was pretty sure he’d just been approached by the craziest person he’d ever met. She was a good head taller than him, which was surprising in itself, but there was also this heavy atmosphere around her. She was huge, could probably snap Kei’s arm off if she’d like to, but everything she’d just spouted to him was utter insanity. Golden eyes glared darkly at her as he sneered a little. 

“You’re insane.” He practically spit, “Let go of me.”

“We’ve worked too hard to stay as hidden as we are; I wont let you jeopardize that.” Black eyes narrowed and Kei felt his hair stand on end, “You’ll endanger everyone if you don’t come with me, and I wont let you expose us.”

Kei went to retort but Tadashi suddenly popped in out of nowhere and shoved the woman away, though she didn’t really move far and the most that was shoved was her arm off Kei. Black eyes slid down to the new boy in front of her and her eyebrows raised. He was staring up at her with obvious uncertainty. There no serious confidence in him, but none the less he rooted himself firmly in front of her. 

“What do you want with Tsukki?!” Tadashi was surprised his voice came out as solid as it had, “Leave him alone.”

Kei blinked with a light surprised down at the shorter boy, but looked back up when he heard the stranger practically _growling_ at Tadashi. This time she reached for Tadashi and something in the back of Kei’s head threw off alarm bells.

Grabbing her arm this time and pulling it up away from Tadashi Kei glares again as he pulls the shorter boy away from her, “I don’t care what you’re claiming; don’t touch him.”  
With a sharp push Kei forces the stranger’s arm away before he turns and pushes Tadashi forward. Brown eyes look from the stranger’s glare to Kei’s annoyed expression, but stays in step with him. They aren’t getting followed which was good…

But Tadashi could _feel_ the gaze on them.

The odd stiffness in both of them dissipated a bit when they finally turned off that street. Brown eyes glanced back and forth from the street ahead to Kei with obvious question in them. Kei sighed already aware of what the other wanted to ask.

“She was claiming to be a… werewolf.” Kei’s eyebrow twitched as if saying the sentence out loud hurt before he huffed and fixed his glasses a little, “Telling me that dog that bit me was one of her “pack mates” or some bull like that, and had the gall to claim I’m going to turn into one and kill everybody if I don’t leave with her and this “pack” of hers…” 

Tadashi can hear, and see, the absolute dismissal and irritation in Kei but he himself was a little anxious about it. He didn’t quite buy this whole monster movie claim, but with everything odd that had been happening with Kei for the past two weeks just for a split second he did wonder. 

…

Arriving home after he and Tadashi split Kei found Akiteru was out of the house while his mother was in the kitchen. As he stepped through the door she leaned out, but her eyebrows raised when she saw Kei.

“You’re home early.” She said with clear question on her face, “Everything alright.”

“Fine.” Kei said, “Practice just ended early tonight.”

Disappearing back into the kitchen Kei followed her and went for a drink. Wondering behind her Kei saw the vegetables she was frying on the stove, and the raw meat sitting out waiting for her attention. He vaguely registered that she was talking to him, asking about school and his injury and even Tadashi, and the mindless answers that came from him. It was odd but Kei’s eyes linger on the meat sitting in front of him, raw and bloody and he swears he can _smell_ it in this oddly… detailed way. Suddenly there’s a gross impulse forming in the back of his jaw, and flooding through his nerves. 

Kei recoils from the counter a little when he realizes what exactly the sudden impulse was. He feels nauseated at the thought that just crossed his mind but also found himself suddenly starving. Excusing himself from the kitchen Kei retreated to his room faster than he meant to. Tossing his things on his bed Kei sighed deeply through his nose trying to calm whatever disgusting urge got into him. He’s starving though, and he cant stop thinking about it.

Diner became a clear sign to Akiteru and his mother that something was bothering him. They were both nearly done eating and Kei had done nothing but pick at a few veggies and push the rest of the food around. Claiming he was just tired from practice didn’t sate their concerned looks much to his annoyance, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat. The bizarre thoughts from earlier still circling in his mind despite the intense hunger burning in his gut. 

He nearly texts Yamaguchi after diner but ended up deciding against it. There was a certainty that the stranger had probably freaked his friend out somewhat and he didn’t want to add to Tadashi’s concerns. Homework suddenly felt like the longest chore in his entire life for some reason, and he even called it a night before he had all of it done.

Unfortunately all he found after laying down was restlessness. His legs ached. They ached like growing pains, but nearly two times worse. They ached like his bones were too big for his body all of the sudden and no matter how he tried to position himself the dull sensation of stretching didn’t subside even a little. If that wasn’t enough he had the greatest urge to run a few miles despite it being nearly one in the morning. He was wide awake with enough energy he was sure he could have run practice drills for two days straight. No matter what method he tried Kei ended up spending the rest of the night uncomfortable and irritated at himself. Only when sunlight started to break the horizon did he manage to drift off in an uneasy sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was kinda funky when I wrote it. I actually rewrote it a number of times because it just kept coming out kinda weird, so if you seen an update some I probably edited/rewrote this _again_ lol. 
> 
> I hope yall are enjoying it so far though!


	4. Chapter 4

Something shrill and obnoxious suddenly cut into his restless sleep so loudly that it hurt his ears. Kei instinctively reached for his alarm, not remembering it ever being that loud, and only then did his ear stop trying to bleed. Groaning he debated going back to sleep considering he could practically feel the bags that were no doubt getting worse under his eyes. That would leave Tadashi to walk to school by himself, and Kei didn’t want to fall behind on work. He’d already half-assed his homework after all. Losing the battle against himself had Kei rolling over to reach for his glasses on the other side of the bed. His reach stopped, however; as his eyebrows drew together in serious question.

His glasses were on the nightstand to his right; he'd put them there as he always did before bed. It was certain he wasnt wearing them because he was staring right at them. Blinking Kei stared blankly at the black frames about an arm’s length away from him; stared _clearly_. Every detail of them was as clear as if he was wearing those stupid things, and yet there they were. He reached for them slowly when he suddenly heard something somewhere in the house. Akiteru was moving around upstairs... no... that wasnt upstairs. He could hear the noises downstairs as if they were right outside his door...

Kei felt something coiling up inside his chest. 

_This... this wasnt right..._

Sitting up slowly golden eyes slid around his room. Sure, he _knew_ every detail of his room even when he didn’t have his glasses on, but actually _seeing_ the detail without them was…  
Kei closed his eyes and rubbed them, almost viciously, before he slowly peeled them open again. Nope. Still clear. Taking in a deep, slow breath he tried to steading the uncomfortable feeling that was rising in his chest. There was an explanation to this; there had to be. People just didn’t wake up one day with 20/20 vision. Kei sat there for however long running through every piece of information he could recall about the eyes. He picked through anything and everything the optometrist had ever said to him, and all the articles and books he’d ever scanned through. 

Nothing.

There was nothing that had ever come up with eyes suddenly boosting themselves to perfect vision. A chill started to slowly worm its way up Kei’s spine as he slid out of bed. Just as he stood his arm pulsed with an almost violent flare that caused him to wince and grab his arm. He stared down at it with wild confusion as the flare coursed through his whole arm, up to his shoulder before it slowly faded away. The injury was all but gone at this point, and it didn’t even seem like it was going to leave a scar. With how wide and how deep the injury had been that in itself was surprising; let alone how fast it had healed. As healthy as Kei liked to assume he was there was no way he was _that_ healthy. The more he thought about it all the worse that thing coiling in his chest got.

Kei stood in the silence of his room as his mind spun on endless circles. There had to be an explanation; there was always an explanation. Over and over again Kei ran everything he could passed his mind to try and figure out what was happening, but… 

The sound of dishware clattering into a sink suddenly sounded in his ears and Kei’s eyes snapped toward his closed door. That had sounded like _he’d_ been the one dropping them into the sink. In fact… 

Now that his attention was on the sounds Kei found he could tell that it was Akiteru moving around downstairs. The sounds were too heavy for his mother, but how did he know that? Akiteru was cleaning dishes; the water was running but kept getting interrupted when he swiped the dishes under it. 

_Why did he know that?! Why could he **hear** that?!_

There was suddenly a knock on his door, but it resonated so loudly in his ears Kei couldn’t help but gasp as he covered them quickly. It sounded like someone was knocking on his eardrums directly and it made his head spin.

“Kei honey you’ll be late if you don’t hurry!” His mother’s voice echoed loudly through the door.

It sailed through the room and right to Kei with more clarity than it had ever had before. There was a ringing in his ears as the shot of pain faded away, but he managed a generic call back which satisfied her enough to send her back downstairs. Finally his room fell back into silence as he looked anywhere other than his door, and forced himself to focus on anything other than his hearing. 

The world still spun under Kei’s feet, but he couldn’t just stay in his room all day. That would draw more concern from everyone and right now he didn’t want to have to juggle between trying to find answers, trying not to freak out, _and_ trying to pretend he was alright if people pushed questions. 

He’s offered breakfast when he finally does emerge from his room, but declines and claims he’d get something on the way to school. He’s come and gone so fast he misses the lingering gaze of questioning concern that’s been growing on Akiteru’s face for the past few days. Kei’s moving fast only to get out of the house, but he’s glad both of them are hidden away in the kitchen because he nearly runs face first into the door. 

Having his glasses on now was doing the opposite of what they were meant for, but walking out of the house without them on would have just opened a door to unnecessary questions he didn’t have answers or time for. The moment the door shuts behind him, however; Kei rips the glasses off his face and the world is clear again. 

It’s such a bizarre sensation. Knowing they’re in his hand but the world is still clear.

Kei knows he needs to figure out what was wrong with him, but first there was the issue of school. Showing up randomly without glasses would need a pretty viable excuse.   
He’d been walking for only a bit when Tadashi shows up. Kei looks up and stops in his tracks. Tadashi was nowhere in sight so why…

“Tsukki!!” 

Tadashi’s voice is as clear as if he was standing next to him, but Kei is watching him come from across the street a decent distance away. In fact the shorter boy had just come out from around the corner of the neighborhood walls on that street, so why had Kei known Tadashi was arriving?

Golden eyes watched him all the way until Tadashi stood before him. Brown eyes blinked back at him with light question.

“Tsukki you okay? You’re not wearing your glasses.”

This jolted Kei back into the present; he’d completely forgotten…

“I…” Does he tell him? Does he lie him? How would he even begin to explain the fact he woke up this morning no longer needing his glasses? Before Kei could even honesty chose an option his mouth moved without his permission, “I don’t need them anymore.”

Tadashi blinked, “I’ve never seen you out without your glasses on… did you get contacts?”

Kei nearly punched himself. That was a simple enough lie that covered everything easily.

“Yes.” He said flatly as he placed the glasses back in his backpack. 

The two started walking again, and he was relieved Tadashi took it as an easy enough explanation.

“You know you look kinda funny without glasses on.” Tadashi was staring up at him, squinting a bit as if studying him, “It’s kinda, weird.” 

_Yeah it feels weird._ Kei’s eyes glanced at him before going back to their path ahead, “I thought I’d try them today for volleyball.”

“Oh! That’s actually a pretty good point. You wouldn’t have to worry about your glasses getting knocked off.” Tadashi nodded quickly as he finally looked away from Kei, “You could take more spikes to the face then.”

Kei’s lip drew up as he glared at the shorter boy out of the corner of his eye, but Tadashi just laughed at him. Derailing into any and everything Kei mildly turned Tadashi out when he realized his voice was starting to grow louder and louder. It seemed like if Kei focused on anything too hard that was making sound it would start reverberating harshly on his ears.

Classes were going to be a nightmare.

God he just wanted to go back to sleep. 

…

Like he’d thought; classes were an absolute _nightmare._

Every. Single. Thing.

Kei could hear _everything._

It was driving him up the wall. No matter what he did it was like someone was dragging nails up his spine. He’d try to focus on the teacher and suddenly their voice is right next to him; right in his head. He tried to focus on his notes, but soon enough the pencil moving across the paper is scratching its way into his brain. Trying to focus on nothing in particular was the worst, though.

He’d tried to stare up just above the board at the empty, soundless wall, but that just opened him up to _it all_. The sound of Tadashi’s leg bouncing a few seats back; the pencils and pens scratching around on papers; the hushed whispers of some of his classmates; books sliding across desks; bags jostling; chairs _screeching_ across the floor if someone adjusted even just a bit.   
Kei was losing it. He knew he was. Every nerve in his body was firing off at the same time making his skin crawl and his ears hurt. His head was pounding, and his leg was bouncing so fast it was threatening to try and break through the desk. His hand curled up into his hair as he stared down at his notebook; his other hand clutching the pencil so harshly his fingertips were turning white. On top of everything his arm…

His arm was on fire.

Golden eyes stared down at the pages before him but nothing was making sense. He’d been ignoring it ever since they’d gotten to school, but now it was like his blood was on fire. His whole arm felt like it was trying to tear away from under his skin. Everything was swirling around inside his head all at the same time. Moving in on his senses. Closing in on his brain. Kei couldn’t breathe… 

There was a sharp snap suddenly and gold flicked over to his right hand. His pencil was broken. Something had snapped it in half…. No… He’d… snapped his pencil in half. _With three fingers._  
Kei’s staring nearly wide eyed at his pencil as if it had sprouted a head and was talking to him. He was losing his mind; he had to be. Something in him must have broken somewhere because nothing made sense anymore. People don’t have perfect vision in one night; people cant hear sounds a whole story beneath them; people cant sense friends coming from far away; people don’t just snap pencils with their fingers. 

_People dont feel like their body is trying to rip out from beneath their skin either._

Behind him a pair of brown eyes had been watching all day. So distracted by the strange, unsettling decline of his usually calm composure he hadnt done anything all day. Tadashi had thought something was off with Kei when they’d reached the school because he’d suddenly been really agitated. His eyes flicked around constantly and his eyebrow twitched subtlety every time something mildly loud would happen; be it voices, or shoe lockers, or doors.

It was nearly the end of the day, and Tadashi had never seen Kei so uneasy. He was anxious, and his leg was bouncing. That wasn’t Kei at all. 

Brown eyes widened a little though, when Kei suddenly snapped his pencil. With his fingers. All he’d been doing was writing with it, and then he’d stopped… and then it had snapped. Kei’s eyes were wide beyond his usual look of composure, and he looked like a deer in headlights as he stared at the broken pieces still awkwardly sitting in between his fingers. 

Tadashi’s eyebrows drew together in a finalizing determination. Something was going on with Kei. Tadashi was sure of it now, and he was not letting anymore time pass. He already felt bad enough that he’d waited so long, but today was going to be the end of it. They had practice after and then he’d get Kei to tell him what was wrong; no matter how scary he might get during practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBH this chapter, and the next one I have kinda feel a little off to me.   
> I've rewritten the next one at least 4 times now, but it still flows kinda weird in my opinion.  
> Oh well I guess. If i post and then rewrite either of these chapters I'll put a note in the 6th chapter   
> in case you'd like to go back and reread the changes. I'll mention if there's anything crazy changed or not tho so any added info wont be missed. 
> 
> Anyhoo I hope yall are enjoying and thanks so much for reading this far!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took me so long! 2020 didnt actuallly end new years was a lie didnt yall know.  
> Anyway! Hopefully this chapter isnt too weird; its actually written way differently than i had it mapped  
> out in the outline I have.

The sound of the ball slamming into the gym floor echoed through the room, but there was a different kind of silence accompanying it this time. Tsukishima had just blocked another spike which in itself was no big deal, but what had everyone floored at the moment was the fact that _not a single one_ had gotten passed him all practice. Hinata looked torn between being absolutely antsy that his spikes haven’t gone through and nearly starry eyed at Tsukishima’s unwavering abilities right now. Kageyama on the other hand looked down right furious. What got the team though was Kei’s lack of response to Kageyama’s glares, or Hinata’s excitable blathering. In fact besides Daichi’s own commands on the court Kei hadnt really done much responding to anything other than the practice game. Yamaguchi is on the other side of the net watching him, but there’s worry slowly stretching over his face. 

Kei had been antsier than he had been all day when they’d gotten to the gym. He twitched at every impact the ball made while the two of them were warming up, and he nearly winced every time someone yelled. His gaze was still darting around, and he avoided talking to pretty much everyone more than usual. Daichi had said they were going to do a practice game today, and Tadashi had nearly pulled their captain aside to inform him about Kei’s off atmosphere. He’d decided against it since Daichi had started Kei in the back to practice his serving, and when he’d managed to at least do that alright Tadashi wondered if maybe it was just classes.

He was proved wrong the minute the ball was returned and Hinata spiked it hard over the net; the sound reverberating through the gym. Tadashi watched Kei _flinch_ as if someone had just knocked him in the head. There was a new change that slowly started to slide over him though, as the game went on. 

Kei stopped flinching so much. He stopped looking off balance. In fact Kei stopped doing pretty much everything all together other than _watching._.

There was something odd going on; odder than everything else. When the game had first started he was damn near sure his head was going to split open from the sound. As soon as the ball had been launched back over the net though, something pulsed through his veins. Kei felt his hair stand on end as his skin prickled in a bizarre, chilling wave. He was up front by this point, but the court looked… different. 

Every motion of the others was drawing his attention all at once. His hearing didn’t echo painfully in his ears anymore; his body didn’t feel like it was trying to burn him alive. Kei breathed in deep and he could tell who was closer to the net who was farther away. His heart, which had been beating wildly all day, was suddenly calm and slow. Nishinoya suddenly twitched on the other side of the court and instantly golden eyes were on him, but at the same time he saw Hinata’s legs shift just slightly to jump for a spike. Kageyama’s fingers moved the moment Nishinoya received the ball, and Kei felt his own muscles tense. 

The ball was to Kageyama in an instant, and the setter sent it back at a jarring speed to Hinata. Their smallest crow lept with abnormal speed like always as he slammed into the ball. Kei hadnt taken his eyes off Hinata, but before he’d even had time to process what was going on his body had moved. Leaping sideways Kei felt the ball suddenly slam solidly into the palm of his hand before it bounced back. There was a silence on the court as the two landed again, but Kei was looking through Hinata now. He was looking at everybody. He could _see_ everybody. He felt wild pulses of energy surging across his veins, and every movement from the other side of the net caused another one. 

There was a strange feeling in his spine as it stretched slowly across his body. His jaw tightened as he put a word to the feeling. It wasn’t the kind that belonged at a volleyball game. It wasn’t the kind that was meant for players, or games, or high school students. Still, something was digging it deep into the back of Kei’s mind and burying it there. Golden eyes locked onto Hinata as the game reset, and on the other end of the court brown ones were locked onto him. 

Tadashi was vaguely aware the ball was in play again, but he felt rooted in place at the moment. There was a sick feeling growing in his gut as he stared at Kei. A lot of things could be used to describe Kei, and a lot of things _couldn’t_. There were a few things that most people would say they’d never seen Kei do, and couldn’t imagine him doing. Tadashi knew Kei Tsukishima inside and out; it came with the territory of friendship they had. Even so, not once in his life had he seen Kei look like he did right now. 

If Tadashi had to pick a word, he’d probably say terrifying. The ball was in play, but while everyone’s attention was upward Kei’s eyes hadnt once left Hinata. That in itself wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but what was bad was the look in them. They were wide and unnervingly focused, and when they shifted just slightly as Hinata moved Tadashi’s own eyes widened more. There was a dull, golden _glow_ around them. He could make it out just barely when they would shift to track the shorter boy in front of him. The most terrifying feature though, that Tadashi knew didn’t belong on Kei, was the feral, sneering smile that was stretched across his best friend’s face.

Kei was excited, and it wasn’t an innocent kind of excitement. Even from the other side of the court Tadashi could tell.

It was a wild, feral excitement meant only for a predator…

…

After practice there was a strange, off atmosphere hanging in the air, but no one said anything. Tadashi was watching Kei closely as they all prepped to leave for home. Every time he caught glimpses of Kei’s face though he felt a chill run up his spine. There was a twitch in his friend’s lips that didn’t belong there, and his eyes were still too intense to be Kei. As he drew closer on their exit Tadashi could almost see the energy vibrating through Kei’s limbs; it felt like he was walking next to a pent up… animal. 

They walked in silence for a while, but it’s mostly because Tadashi doesn’t know what to do. He was so determined to talk to Kei after practice because of what was happening, but now it was completely different. It was like something had flipped a switch on whatever was wrong with Kei, and now he wasn’t sure anymore. 

No. Tadashi clenched his fist. Nothing had changed. Kei was still off; there was still _something_ wrong with him. He bit his lip lightly before taking a deep breath and then closing the small gap between them until he was next to Kei. 

“T-Tsukki…” He started a little weaker than he had wanted.

Golden eyes snapped to him from the corner, but Tadashi was a little proud of himself for not flinching under the sudden stare. 

“You were, really good during practice… but… are you okay? You looked so stressed out during classes, and you broke your pencil… and then practice you were so, intense. I’ve never seen you like that before. You were really, kind of scary towards the end of it honestly. It looked like you were going to… atta-“

“Yamaguchi shut up!” Kei suddenly snarled. 

It caught the shorter boy off guard for a moment and startled him. He looked up and saw a terrible glare looking down at him. Kei’s lip was pulled up in an angry snarl, and something new was worming into Tadashi’s nerves. Tadashi wasn’t sure how, but Kei looked bigger all of the sudden. Sure he had always been taller than Tadashi but this felt different. He’d been glared at before, given all kinds of looks from those golden eyes, but this look…  
Tadashi was sure he’d felt it somewhere before…

Brown eyes widened as a wind blew through softly. He’d been so focused in on watching Kei’s odd change in behavior he’d nearly forgotten all the other things that had happened recently. He startled when his back suddenly hit a wall; when had he backed up?! Kei was still looming over him, but now he seemed closer. Had he instinctively backed up under Kei’s glare, and Kei followed backing him into a corner? If he had to pick Tadashi would say he didn’t feel like he was standing in front of Kei anymore. Sure his best friend wasnt the warmest person on the planet, or the nicest, or the easiest to get along with, but this…

This wasn’t Kei at all.

“T-Tsukki…” Tadashi manages to squeak out. 

He goes to try and slip around Kei and get away from the odd feeling of predatory danger, but Kei’s hand grabs his jacket suddenly. Brown eyes go wide as he looks up startled by Kei’s aggression. Golden irises stare down at him, and with the light behind him Tadashi can see it clearly now. _They are glowing._

The air gets heavy, and Tadashi feels something in the back of his mind start screaming _danger_. Kei’s lip twitches and his teeth bear suddenly as his grip tightens. The quarter of the moon is hanging over them darkly as silver moonlight spills down onto the earth around them. Their dark little corner now cast in ominous glows. Tadashi feels his legs start to shake as clouds slide across the sky, and the light slowly begins to start fading. 

Tadashi watches as the glowing in Kei’s eyes disappear with the fading moonlight. Kei blinks, once, twice, before his eyebrows scrunch together. His grip releases Tadashi’s jacket instantly as soon as he realizes what he’s doing, and Kei is suddenly five or so feet away from him. 

His legs are feeling a little wobbly still, but he’s glad at least Kei seems like Kei again. Hopefully? Brown eyes lock onto golden, but Kei looks away quickly as he runs his hands over his face. They go until they’re in his hair and grabbing it like he’s trying to pull it out now. There’s a heavy silence and as much as he wants to Tadashi cant seem to bring himself to move toward the other. 

Clearing his throat, more to get rid of the fear he’d felt bubbling up, Tadashi peels himself off the wall finally but doesn’t take steps forward yet. 

“Tsukki… what’s… what’s going on?” He finally manages. 

Kei’s shoulders are shaking, and for a second Tadashi thinks he’s crying. Soon enough though he hears Kei’s quiet laugh which starts to get a little louder. It’s not his usual laugh, its not even a sarcastic one. It’s empty, and sounds like the kind someone would have when they felt hopeless.

Finally his head comes up as his arms drop to his sides and Tadashi’s brow furrows. Even in the dim light of the streetlamp behind them Tadashi can see how tired Kei looks all of the sudden. His eyes aren’t even daring to look Tadashi in the face anymore, and there’s a strange curl at the corner of his lips. 

“I don’t… know.” Kei’s voice finally breaks through the air, and it’s shaky. It’s shaky and weak and it hurts Tadashi to hear it that way, “I don’t know, Yamaguchi… I cant find an explanation, for anything… no matter how hard I try.”

Tadashi’s only seen Kei look this defeated once, and it changed him. He wasn’t going to let it change him again.

Steeling his still shaky nerves Tadashi wills his legs forward until he’s walked himself right in front of Kei, “What’s going on then Tsukki? I’m sure we can figure it out! I want to help! I’ve been so, worried, lately. You’ve been acting so weird since… well since you got bit, and if something else is going on!” 

Gold still wouldn’t meet his gaze instead shifting downward to his arm as he held the area that had taken the injury. 

“It hurt still. All the time.” Kei finally started after a long pause, “Every time something weird happens; it hurts. It’s…”

Tadashi could see him struggling to talk about it. Kei was so bottled up about everything and everything, but whatever this was seemed to be giving him an even harder time to admit out loud.

“You’ll think I’m insane.” Kei says as his grip tightens around his own arm, “I think I’m insane. I have to be because none of this makes any sense and what does make sense… is insane.”

“Insane or not!” Tadashi said loudly, startling Kei some, “If there’s something wrong I want to know! I’m supposed to be your best friend Tsukki! I already waited this long to ask even though I _knew_ there was something wrong! I don’t care if you are insane or if you’re not! I wanna know, so I can try to help!”

Finally golden met brown head on and Kei blinked at the scowl Tadashi was giving him. 

“So tell me, Tsukki.” Tadashi huffed, “What weird things…”

There was a moment of silence, and for a second Tadashi was worried Kei might shut him out. The blonde sighed though extinguishing his worries. 

“It’s been going on all week… maybe a bit of last week I don’t really know…” Kei started, “I cant sleep at night. My bones feel like they’re… like they’re too big or something. Everything hurts. I woke up today and could hear Akiteru _downstairs_ as if he was standing next to me. I can hear stuff I shouldn’t be hearing, and it’s overwhelming. I feel like my head’s going to explode, and it’s like my blood is on fire… I have so much energy all the time, and I just… feel so… _alive_.” Kei’s eyes widened a little as he stared down at his arm and the look in them spooked Tadashi a bit, “But at the same time I’m so afraid… I think stuff I shouldn’t be thinking, about things people aren’t supposed to think about… My eyes… I don’t have contacts in. I can _see_ ; clearly. I woke up this morning and I could just see everything.”

Tadashi stared at the blonde in front of him wide eyed. He’d known something was wrong, but to think there was _so_ much. It did all sound insane because it didn’t happen. Stuff like that didn’t happen to people. Yet Kei hadnt worn his glasses all day, he’d been the way he had been at practice, he’d been off balance during classes. On top of it all there was what had just happened. 

Something was _**wrong**_ with Kei.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope yall enjoyed this one! Thanks so much if you have read this far! I really appreicate it and all the kudos and comments that come in! It really makes my day when I get a notif of them!  
> I'll try not to make the next updates so long apart!   
> My attention span is just, about the length of a milimeter...


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